For a time, it had the makings of a mountain mystery. Three deaths - first an elderly couple then, weeks later, an 11-year-old boy - in the same hotel room with the same immediate response from authorities: cause of death undetermined.

When the third death - that of a South Carolina youth visiting Boone with his mother - made news over the weekend in a Charlotte Observer story ("Mystery surrounds Boone motel deaths,") it brought on reader comments punctuated with words such as "terrifying," "bizarre," "really weird," "incredibly creepy."
READ MORE: 'Mystery' of 3 deaths in same hotel room traced: Carbon monoxide